INTERVIEW: Phyre from The World Rejects

I recently caught up with Houston rapper Phyre da Armageddon via e-mail to discuss his new After the Blockalbum and about being labeled a “Mexican Christian Rapper” who loves the Houston Texans.

Sketch: You’re a member of The World Rejects crew of rappers. What is it like recording an album in a group dynamic and then shifting gears to doing it as a solo artist for After the Block?

Phyre: It was different, but also exciting to finally be able to drop a solo album that was in the works before The World Rejects projects. It was way more time consuming and a bigger responsibility than working on a group effort. The upside is that I still had my Rejects pushing me and motivating me the whole way, especially Koodawg and Sketch! [Editor’s note: This is Sketch BeatKazo – the group’s producer. Not the author of this blog.]

Sketch: There’s a prevalent Houston sound and local references throughout this album. Why was that important for you to include on this project?

Phyre: Well what can I say “I love GOD and I love my City”! Also since I am trying to reach those in my community and city, I wanted to capture their ears with a sound they are familiar with.

Sketch: Some people in our community prefer not to be labeled “Christian rappers” for fear that new listeners will prejudge their music. How do you feel about that title? And on a related note, The World Rejects sometimes get billed as “Spanish rappers” or “Hispanic Christian rappers.” Does that in any way limit your reach?

Phyre: I embrace the “Christian Rapper” title and don’t see anything wrong with it. Once they hear your music, they will label it that anyways.

I also think my sound has an advantage over some of the folks trying to lose that title, only because I cater my music to reach the lost. I have that “gangsta sound” while never compromising the Gospel. Being labeled Spanish or Mexican Rappers doesn’t really bother me, because I know we can hold our own with the best of them.

The thing I don’t like is when record labels make a Latino branch even though the artist doesn’t rap in Spanish. Well that’s my rant about that.. lol!

To fully answer the question, I don’t think it has limited our reach, only helped it. A big part of of the reason we won the opportunity to open for Andy Mineo at NGEN’s Boomin’ concert and had over 3,000 votes was because of the size of our following. One thing I can say is GOD has been and continues to be good!

Sketch: Part of your promotion for this album includes a plan to give away three physical copies to “the streets” for every digital copy you sell online? Tell me a little more about how that will work. And don’t physical copies cost more to produce than digital ones?

Phyre: Well that’s easy, we will use the money made from digital sales to make hard copies.. We buy them in bundle, we can get a hard copies for a little under a buck. That’s why we are pushing the digital copies. We want to give out as many as we can to the “streets” the “hood”, those still on the “block”.

Sketch: A few seasons back The World Rejects recorded and released a Houston Texans anthem called “Kings of the Gridiron.” The team had the worst record in the NFL last year and continues to struggle to achieve wins this season. Do you pray for the Houston Texans to win football games and does God really care about those outcomes?

LOL! I don’t think GOD really cares about the outcome of a football game, but I might be guilty of praying for a win a few times! We have a newer song called “Thank GOD I’m A Texan” that features The Ultimate Fan that has been played all over the tailgate parties at NRG and also a section called Bull Pen in the stadium. We are in the works for a video to it.

Phyre’s After the Block album is available at all of your favorite digital download sites today – Tuesday, October 14.